Multiple access internet portal revenue sharing

ABSTRACT

A server provides Internet access to wireless devices. Billing information for each wireless device is shared with a content provider. The server formats usage information into a transaction record for the content provider. A customer of a network carrier is charged differently based upon a type of content accessed through the server.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/300,889, filed Nov. 21, 2011, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,472,918,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/510,795, filedJul. 28, 2009, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,086,219, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/552,171, filed Oct. 24,2006, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,596,213, which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 10/431,828, filed May 8, 2003, now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 7,127,232, with all applications incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to internet connectivity,and more particularly related to multiple access internet portals.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The development of the internet has resulted in rapid technology growthover the past ten years. This is particularly true of theworld-wide-web. As the world-wide-web has grown, it has become a part ofeveryday life for many. Web based e-mail has allowed people theconvenience of accessing their accounts from any terminal equipped witha web browser. Moreover, companies such as Yahoo! and Microsoft haveexpanded to give users the flexibility of providing personalized contentat any web terminal worldwide.

In the past few years, it has become increasingly prevalent for users tocarry a wireless access protocol (WAP) enabled cellular phone. As WAPphones have become more popular, content providers like Microsoft haveattempted to provide their services to the end user through licensingthe wireless carrier to provide the service to their customers. However,this leaves the carrier paying for every wireless user with a WAPenabled phone. Thus, in traditional models, one of two circumstancesoccur: every customer ends up paying for the service regardless ofwhether they use it or not; or, the customers who use the servicesubsidize the availability of the service to everyone else. Thus, thereis a need for systems that overcome the above shortcomings, amongothers.

SUMMARY

One embodiment, among others, of the present disclosure provides amultiple access internet portal billing system. A representative system,among others, includes a communication facility, a wireless internetserver, and a transaction billing system. The communication facilityincludes a billing platform and can connect to a plurality of wirelessdevices on different platforms through a mobile network. The wirelessinternet server provides internet access to the plurality of wirelessdevices and communicates a billing information record including a usagetime to a transaction billing system, and the transaction billing systemreceives the billing information record from the wireless internetserver, formats the billing information record, and communicates theformatted record to the communication facility and the billing platform.

In one embodiment, among others, of the present disclosure, a usagebased billing system for a multiple access portal is provided. Arepresentative system, among others, includes a wireless internet serverand a transaction billing system. The wireless internet server providesa plurality of internet applications from a content provider to a numberof users through a telephone interface, the wireless internet serverfurther providing identification and usage information to a transactionbilling system. The transaction billing system receives theidentification and usage information from the wireless internet server,and formats the identification and usage information into a transactionrecord compatible with an existing carrier billing platform, wherein thetransaction billing system also transmits the transaction record to theexisting carrier billing platform.

One embodiment, among others, of the present disclosure provides methodsof billing clients for use of a service. A representative method, amongothers, can include the following steps: providing a server operable totransfer internet data to a mobile user; tracking a time periodassociated with the usage of the server by the mobile user; formatting atransaction record associated with the mobile user including the timeperiod; and, sending the transaction record to a billing platform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure can be better understood with reference to thefollowing drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarilyto scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating theprinciples of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, likereference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the severalviews.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment, among others, of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment, among others, of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3A is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of a method usedby the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3B is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of a method usedby the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart illustrating themethod used for e-mail delivery to short message service telephones onthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart illustrating themethod used for e-mail delivery over voice on the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of personalinformation manager application delivery over short message service onthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of personalinformation manager application delivery over voice on the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of a samplescreen shot of a public web interface provided by the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of a samplescreen shot of a customized web interface provided by the system of FIG.1.

FIG. 10A is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of a samplescreen shot of a public wireless access protocol (WAP) interfaceprovided by the system of FIG. 1 to a WAP enabled device.

FIG. 10B is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of a samplescreen shot of a sign-on WAP interface provided by the system of FIG. 1to a WAP enabled device.

FIG. 10C is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of a samplescreen shot of a customized WAP interface provided by the system of FIG.1 to a WAP enabled device.

FIG. 10D is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of a samplescreen shot of a customized WAP interface provided by the system of FIG.1 to a WAP enabled device.

FIG. 11A is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for a regularcall process used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voicecallers.

FIG. 11B is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for a first callprocess used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

FIG. 11C is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for news contentused by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

FIG. 11D is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for sportscontent used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

FIG. 11E is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for weathercontent used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

FIG. 11F is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for joke contentused by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

FIG. 11G is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for horoscopecontent used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

FIG. 11H is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart forentertainment content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact withvoice callers.

FIG. 11I is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for e-mailcontent used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

FIG. 11J is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for calendarcontent used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice callers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The preferred embodiments of the present invention now will be describedmore fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The inventionmay, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are intended to convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. Furthermore, all “examples” given herein areintended to be non-limiting.

Referring now to FIG. 1, shown is a block diagram illustrating anembodiment, among others, of the present invention. The communicationfacilities 100, typically include existing equipment 102 that isoperable to connect to a mobile network 104. The existing equipment 102is typically operable to connect wireless devices 106, 108, 110, 112from different wireless platforms to land line phones, the internet 132,or other wireless devices through the mobile network 104.

Typically, the existing equipment 102 includes a post-paid billingplatform 114 which tracks per minute usage of the mobile network 104. Atthe end of each billing period (typically one month) the post-paidbilling platform 114 is used to bill each customer based on the numberof billable minutes he or she used. Most existing equipment 102embodiments also contain a pre-paid billing platform 116 which allowscustomers to use the mobile network based upon the amount the customerhas in his or her account. The pre-paid billing platform 116 then debitsthe account based upon the billable minutes used. Each system is alsooperable to determine the amount of minutes that can be billed to thecustomer and the rate at which the customer is billed. In the UnitedStates the billing relationship is typically a “mobile party pays”billing relationship (both parties paying if both are mobile). Thismeans that virtually all mobile airtime used by a customer will bebilled to the customer. However, in many foreign countries, the billingrelationship is “calling party pays,” which means that the post-paidbilling platform cannot bill the receiver for minutes of calls receivedby a wireless device. Moreover, the carrier cannot bill the callerunless the call is connected, thus bringing about the prevalence ofproviding voice mail in order to connect the call. The billing platformsare typically embodied in software, and one such system that could beused is an APEX Billing System (ABS) available from APEX VoiceCommunications of Sherman Oaks, Calif. Moreover, the carrier can usethese billing platforms to format the billing information to printstatements to provide to its customers.

The existing equipment 102 can further include an IVR system 118. IVRsystems are available from a plethora of vendors, including LucentTechnologies of Murray Hill, N.J. and Alcatel of Paris, France. The IVRsystem 118 can facilitate interaction between a customer and a customerservice unit 120 in the existing equipment 102. The customer serviceunit 120 is typically a software solution that can collect responsesfrom the customer through the IVR and communicate these responses to acustomer service representative via a computer 122. The interactivevoice response system is typically rated to provide 24 voice channels(T1) in the United States, and is typically rated to provide 30 voicechannels (E1) overseas. The IVR system provides prompts and receivesresponses from the user in order to gather information from the user tosupply to a customer service representative via the customer serviceunit 120 and computer 122. The customer service representative can theninteract with the customer and his or her account by changing settings,adding features, removing features, etc. One skilled in the art willrecognize that the customer service unit 122 can also make limitedchanges.

The existing equipment 102 typically also includes a locationdetermination system 124 for wireless devices 106, 108, 110, 112. Thelocation determination system 124 is typically a home location register(HLR) database that keeps track of where all wireless devices 106, 108,110, 112 are at any time, such that an incoming call can be routed tothe cellular tower providing the strongest signal to the wireless device106, 108, 110, 112. The location determination system can keep track ofa wireless device by using GPS, or through a cell-ID associated with thephone as it is tracked through various cells. Typically a wirelessdevice 106, 108, 110, 112 sends a beacon signal to alert a cellulartower (usually a nearest cellular tower) that the device 106, 108, 110,112 is in the cell served by that tower. The cellular tower, in turn,notifies the location determination system 124 of the fact that thewireless device 106, 108, 110, 112 is in the cell corresponding to thatcellular tower. Moreover, the location determination system 124 isoperable to determine which signal is stronger, if the wireless device106, 108, 110, 112 is at the edge of a cell. From this information, thelocation determination system 124 can determine approximately where thewireless device 106, 108, 110, 112 is located.

The increasing popularity of text messaging means that most existingequipment 102 embodiments also includes a short message service center126. The short message service center (SMSC) 126 is operable to receivea short message from a short message service enabled wireless device 110and route the short message to the desired short message service enabledrecipient. Typically the SMSC will query a home location register (HLR)using the mobile identification number to determine the mobile switchingcenter (MSC) the destination with which the wireless device is currentlyassociated. The SMSC will then send the message to the MSC an SMSdelivery request. If the wireless device is available, the MSC deliversthe message and sends a delivery acknowledgement to the SMSC. Otherwise,the SMSC stores the message until notified by the MSC that the wirelessdevice is available. An example of such an SMSC is MiLife Short MessageService Center available from Lucent Technologies.

Another feature that most existing equipment 102 embodiments include isa WAP gateway 128. The WAP gateway 128 allows a WAP enabled wirelessdevice 108 to download web pages from a content provider using awireless markup language (WML) via the internet 132. The WML can beinterpreted by a browser included in a WAP enabled device 108 anddisplayed on the screen. Typically these WAP enabled devices 108 such asa phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. can only access websitesthat are designed for use with WAP browsers. As such only a relativelyfew content providers have designed websites specifically for WAPenabled browsers. The WAP gateway 128 is typically a server and isavailable from a plethora of vendors, including Ericsson of Stockholm,Sweden and Nokia of Helsinki, Finland.

Many phone carriers also double as internet service providers, which caninclude high-speed wireless connection for a computer 106. Thus, theexisting equipment 102 also typically includes a proxy server 130 toallow the computer 106 to connect to the internet 132. The proxy server130 is operable to route hypertext markup language (HTML) to a computer108 with a high-speed wireless internet connection, and serves as agateway between the mobile network 104 and the internet 132.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication facilities100 can also include a multiple access internet portal 133 including awireless internet server (WIS) 134 which is operable to provide internetservice to a variety of different wireless platforms. In particular, theWIS 134 is operable to receive a request from any of the wirelessdevices 106, 108, 110, 112 for internet content. In one embodiment,among others, of the present invention, the WIS 134 is based on twoservers (and input server and a processing server), and is acomponent-based distributed processing system designed to interface withthe carrier's existing short message service centers, wireless accessprotocol gateways, proxy servers, voice portals, back office systems,and the content provider. The input server in one embodiment, amongothers, is a ProLiant ML370, while the processing server is a ProLiantDL580, both available from Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto, Calif.Typically, specific software modules can add functionality to interfacewith specific systems or specific services.

Upon receiving a request for internet content, in one embodiment, amongothers, of the present invention, the WIS 134 can request authenticationfrom the wireless device attempting to access the internet content.Because the mobile network 104 receives a mobile identification number(MIN) associated with the wireless device 106, 108, 110, 112, the WIS134, in some embodiments, can receive the MIN from the mobile network104 and authenticate a wireless device by asking only for the passwordassociated with the received MIN. The WIS 134 then passes the passwordalong to a centralized authentication system, which includes the mobileauthentication registration application (MARA) 138 and a user database140. The user database 140 typically includes the MINs for allregistered customers, and a password associated with each MIN. The MARAis typically embodied in software on a server located at the contentprovider.

The user database 140 can also typically include a number of fieldsrelated to the user. These fields can include the MIN and password asindicated above. The database 140 can further include a key question andanswer that allows a user to access his or her account in the event of alost or forgotten password. The database 140 can also include the e-mailaddress for the user, such that the content provider will access thecorrect e-mail account. The database 140 can also include all or some ofthe following: full name, home city, birth date, gender, marital status,educational level, occupation, income, phone make and model, wired phonenumber, home address, interests, and promotional advertisingpreferences.

In one embodiment, among others, the registration process for a customertakes place over the phone with a customer service representative oncomputer 122. The customer service representative can use a computer 122to register a customer to use the WIS 134 by adding the user to the WIS134 database, which is then uploaded to the MARA 138. The customerservice representative would typically ask the user for at least aportion of the information stored in the database 140. Moreover, thecustomer service representative can also provision the user for variousapplications over the wireless portal. Thus, if the user does not wishto have access to WAP content, the user could alert the customer servicerepresentative to not provision the service for WAP. In alternativeembodiments, among others, the customer could provision himself orherself with the system via a computer connected to the internet 106, aWAP enabled phone 108, an SMS enabled phone 110 or via voice through theIVR 118.

In one embodiment, among others, of the present invention, the MARA 138is used to provide a single point log-on to the content provider. TheWIS 134 can translate authentication requests into extensible markuplanguage (XML) such that the authentication request will be recognizedby the MARA 138. This enables a subscriber to access a variety ofapplications and databases with only one username and passwordcombination. Each subscriber can enter his or her username and passwordin the multiple access internet portal 133 only once per session. TheMARA 138 then checks all applications under the subscriber'spersonalized profile, and allows them to access all personal information(e-mail, instant messaging, personal information manager, etc.) in asecure mode, without having to sign in again with a different usernameand password.

Using the MARA 138 as a single point log-on provides centralized portalmanagement. Centralized portal management allows centralized useradministration control that extends across multiple web-basedapplications, frees the carrier from developing a complex security,privilege, and personalization technology for each application. The MARA138 also provides a better experience to the user. The better experiencewill encourage the user to continue using the system. Moreover, thesingle log-on can provide the user with access to personalizedinformation.

After receiving authentication, the MARA 138 will pull a profileassociated with the customer from the database 140 and provide theprofile to a GEN3 system 142 (described below). This profile can containa plethora of personalized information associated with the customer.From this information, the GEN3 system 142 can construct a front-pagefor the user based also upon the platform the customer is using toaccess the WIS 134. The type of platform being used by the user can bedetermined by examining the requests received via the WIS 134, or otheraccess device and sent to the content provider 136. This front-page canbe similar to a Yahoo! or MSN personalized front-page, in that it cancontain personalized news content, business content, weather, travel,sports, etc. Moreover, in one embodiment, among others, of the presentinvention, substantially similar personalized content can be accessedacross each of the platforms connecting to the wireless internet server,and via an ISP 144 not part of the communication facilities 100. Oneskilled in the art will recognize that each wireless device platform isdifferent, and thus cannot display the same personalized content thateach of the other platforms can display. However, the information thatis presented and a general format can be followed to make the user'sexperience relatively seamless across platforms. For example, amongothers, if a user wants to receive sports and business news, but nopolitical news or weather information, such preferences could befollowed in all platforms. In an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, the user can personalize his or her experience on each of theplatforms independently, such that the information received at eachplatform is not substantially similar.

In particular, the GEN3 system 142 is operable to receive content fromthe content hub 146, content feeds 148 and third party applications 150,among others. The GEN3 system 142 then collects this content based upona profile received from the MARA 138, and translates the content intothe particular language used by the platform attempting to access theinformation. The content is then provided to the WIS 134, the WAPgateway 128 or the proxy server 130 as requested. Typically, the GEN3 isembodied in software run by a server.

The content hub 146 is typically an XML based content engine designed toacquire and distribute massive amounts of content data to multipledevices. The content hub 146 provides a system for content acquisitionfrom various news feeds and other data sources, and it also has thecapability of sending data back to various entities provided that XMLdata schemes exist between the two entities.

The wireless carrier benefits from a safer data traffic environment, andthe centralized system frees wireless carriers to focus on theirbusiness logic instead of developing or worrying about contentintegration. Without this centralized, shared approach, the portalquickly becomes significantly more complex as applications are added andcontent management becomes overwhelming. The content hub 146 can furtherprovide a content editorial tool. This application can allow the contentprovider 136 the ability to quickly add, change and delete articles fromthe content hub 146, define new categories, add text, and create newstories.

Typically, SMS and voice content would be sent to the WIS 134, while WMLand HTML would be sent to the WAP gateway 128 and proxy server 130,respectively. This setup is intended to relieve potential congestion atthe WIS 134, however, one skilled in the art should recognize that eachtype of data could be routed through the WIS 134. In turn, the WIS 134,WAP gateway 128 and proxy server 130 devices send the information to thewireless device requesting the content. Moreover, the GEN3 142 isoperable to provide access to each of the applications residing on thecontent provider 136.

In some embodiments, among others, the WIS 134 is operable to retrievethe personalized profile associated with the user from the MARA 138. TheWIS 134 can then retrieve internet content from the content provider136, and provide periodic updates via SMS to a wireless device 110throughout the day. Thus, internet content can be pushed to the customeraccording to prior configuration.

With respect to routing of voice calls to the WIS 134, a voice portal152 is added to the multiple access internet portal 133 to handle voicetraffic from the internet. In one embodiment, among others, the voiceportal 152 is equipped with a text to speech feature that allows acustomer to receive information from text sources, which are convertedto speech for the customer. The WIS 134 routes most voice content,however, to reduce traffic, the voice portal 152 can connect directly tothe internet to receive e-mail content. It should be noted that the WIS134 could also be configured to route all traffic. In one embodiment,among others, usage time can be tracked to determine how much to billthe customer for his or her use of the voice portal 152.

The voice portal typically includes a plurality of hardware andsoftware. For example, among many others, a single E1 system directlyconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) can include anSS7 Signaling Server, a single E1 interface Voice Portal PlatformServer, a Nuance Speech Recognition and TTS server located on a CompaqProLiant DL360 server, a web server on an Compaq ML370 server, and anOracle database server, available from Oracle Corp. of Redwood City,Calif. The Nuance Voice Speech Recognition and TTS server is a softwareapplication available from Nuance of Menlo Park, Calif. One skilled inthe art will recognize that there are a plethora of different vendorswho can supply an entire voice portal or various pieces of the voiceportal.

With respect to internet content via the short message service, the WIS134 is typically configured to handle all short messaging of internetcontent to a wireless device 110. The WIS 134 can receive a contentrequest from a wireless device 110 via the short message service center126. Upon receiving the content request from the wireless device 110,the WIS 134 can authenticate a user associated with the wireless device110 by prompting the user for a password and sending the password to theMARA 138. The MARA 138 then instructs the GEN3 142 to send thepersonalized content for the user to the WIS 134. The GEN3 142 thenretrieves the personalized content from the content hub 146 and sendsthe personalized content to the WIS 134. The WIS 134 is operable tostore the personalized content and transmit the personalized content tothe wireless device 110 via the short message service. Because of theshort message service format, the WIS 134 typically provides the userwith a summary of the personalized content available, and stores detailsof the personalized content until a request for detailed content isreceived. Thus, the user is able to navigate through his or herpersonalized content efficiently.

The multiple access internet portal 133 can also include a transactionbilling system (TBS) 154. The TBS 154 can be used to receive CDRs fromthe WIS 134, and format the CDRs according to the format specified bythe particular billing platform used. The TBS 154 can format the recordto either debit a pre-paid account on the pre-paid billing platform 116,or charge to a customer account on the post-paid billing platform 114.

Moreover, the TBS 154, in one embodiment, among others, of the presentinvention can be used to bill different customers differently based uponthe service to which the customer has subscribed. Furthermore, the TBS154 can be used to charge customers differently based upon the contentaccessed through the WIS 134. For example, if a customer wishes toreceive real-time stock updates, he or she could pay a premium. However,if the customer chooses to receive stock quotes that are not real time,the TBS 154 could charge the customer based upon normal or even adiscount rate.

It should be recognized by one skilled in the art, that a customer maybe allowed to use the system without being registered. In this instance,the MARA 138 will not recognize the user as a registered user, but canallow the user to access public information from the content provider136. The WIS 134 will determine whether the customer is a pre-paid orpost-paid customer. If the customer is a pre-paid customer, the WIS 134will determine whether enough money remains on the customer's account onthe pre-paid platform 116 prior to allowing the customer to access theservice. If the customer is a post-paid customer, the WIS 134 will allowthe customer to use the public portion provided by the content provider136 and bill the customer via the post-paid billing platform 114. Ineach instance where the customer is allowed to access internet content,the WIS 134 will keep a CDR, and alert the TBS 154 of the customer'susage. The TBS 152 will, in turn, format the data received from the WIS134 such that it correctly charges the customer account, and is readableby the corresponding billing platform 114, 116.

Moreover, it should be recognized that in the case of a pre-paidcustomer, that the WIS 134 and TBS 154 will debit the customer's accounton the pre-paid platform 116 incrementally until the customer exits thesystem, or runs out of money in the pre-paid account. Upon running outof money in the account, the WIS 134 can refuse access to the customer.Alternatively, the TBS 154 could prompt the post-paid billing platform114 to begin a billing record for the pre-paid customer upon thepre-paid account funds being exhausted.

Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is an embodiment, among others, of thepresent invention, in which the multiple access internet portal 133 ofthe communication facilities 100 includes a wireless market place (WMP)system 156. The WMP 156 allows third party content providers oradvertisers 200 to send a message with certain information to themultiple access internet portal 133 and have the messages provided tothe wireless devices 106, 108, 110, 112 without necessitating that thethird party content provider or advertiser invest in the equipmentnecessary to format the message to a standard used by the multipleaccess internet portal 133. Such interfacing equipment can be costly andinefficient to own for most third party content providers andadvertisers 200. The WMP 156, in particular, will provide a portconnected to the internet which will receive a set of rules from thethird party vendor, according to the carrier's security standards, andthe protocol for connecting to the port will be an industry standard.

In an embodiment, among others, of the present invention, the WIS 134can store a personalized profile associated with a user, and can refusea third party content provider or advertiser 200 request to send contentto a customer. In this embodiment, the customer could set his or herprofile to reject third party content. Thus, upon authenticating him orherself, the WIS 134 could receive the profile associated with thecustomer. Then, when the WIS 134 receives content from a third partycontent provider of advertiser 200, the WIS 134 checks the profile todetermine whether the customer's account is enabled to receive thecontent. If the customer's account is enabled, the message is sent viathe appropriate gateway. Otherwise, the message is rejected by the WIS134 and discarded.

One skilled in the art should recognize that the TBS 154 could also beconfigured to store usage information and provide periodic detailedreports outlining the level of usage of the multiple access internetportal 133. These reports can be used by the carrier to determine thelevel of bandwidth needed to support the multiple access internet portal133 and whether it is cost effective to provide the multiple accessinternet portal 133 to the customers of the carrier.

Moreover, the content provider 136 can be given access to the periodicdetailed reports which can show the number of calls received, calldetail records (CDRs) for each call, the revenue generated, etc., fromthe TBS 154, in order to facilitate a revenue sharing plan with thecontent provider. The revenue sharing plan would typically entail thecarrier collecting the revenues from each of its customers who havesubscribed to and/or used the service. Because the carrier is providingthe customer relationship and most of the dedicated equipment, thecarrier could typically demand a higher percentage of such proceeds thanthe content provider in a revenue sharing plan. Such a revenue sharingplan would allow the carriers to efficiently provide internet serviceand content to their customers. To provide this internet service, thecarrier 136 would merely invest in the multiple access internet portal133 equipment and let the content provider 136 create content for themultiple access internet portal 133. Under the plan, the contentprovider 133 could continue to operate a standard multiple accessinternet portal for standard internet users connecting via an ISP 144,while creating new content to provide to the carrier's customers. Thus,the content provider could be assured of having an audience among thecarrier's customer base, and the carrier would not be required to createcontent or license content from a content provider without a means toaccurately charge its customers.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the content provider can also include a numberof centralized applications that can be made available to the user.These applications can include, among many others: an email application162, a personal information manager (PIM) 164, an instant messagingapplication 166, a chat application 168, a commerce application 170 anda location application 172.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, shown is a flowchart for incomingrequests to the communication facilities 100 multiple access internetportal 133. With respect to FIG. 3A, in step 300, the portal 158receives a call from a customer interested in the multiple accessinternet portal 133 services. The portal then prompts the customer tochoose the platform with which he or she wishes to access the portal, asshown in step 302. In one example, among others, the choices for theaccess platforms are generally split into voice access and WAP, SMS andweb access.

If the customer chooses to access the system via a WAP, SMS or webinterface, the multiple access internet portal 133 will prompt the userto make a choice about which services the customer wishes to access,internet or applications, as shown in step 304. If the customer wishesto access application information, the carrier will begin the validationprocess for new service, as shown in step 306. In step 308, the carrierwill populate the customer database in the WIS 134 with the servicesrequested. The WIS 134 then synchronizes with the MARA 138 bytransmitting the new information to the MARA 138, as shown in step 310.The MARA 138 provisions an account for the user for the e-mailapplication 162 and PIM application 164, as shown in step 112, andprovisions any other service requested by the customer in step 314. TheMARA 138 then sends confirmation of the provisioning to the customer, asshown in step 316. The customer can then access the application servicesfor the first time, as shown in step 318. One skilled in the art shouldrecognize that for a user that is not connecting to the system for thefirst time, the system can merely authenticate the user and provide theapplication services based upon the services for which the customer hadpreviously been provisioned. If the customer has requested a service notpreviously provisioned, the carrier can provision him or heraccordingly.

If the customer previously selected internet information in step 304,the multiple access internet portal 133 prompts the customer whether heor she wishes to access personalized information, as shown in step 320.If the customer does not wish to access personalized information, themultiple access internet portal 133 could provide access to a publicwebsite that is not personalized, as shown in step 322. If the customerdoes want access to personalized information, the multiple accessinternet portal 133 sends the multiple access internet portal webpage toauthenticate the customer, as shown in step 324. The MARA 138 thenvalidates the customer as shown in step 326. If the customer enters anincorrect password, the MARA 138 sends an error message to the customer,as shown in step 328. If the customer enters the correct password, thecustomer is offered the ability to personalize the information sent tothe SMS or WAP device 110, 108, as shown in step 330. The customer thenhas access to the internet service, as shown in step 332.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, shown is a flowchart resulting from when acustomer chooses to access the multiple access internet portal 133 usingthe voice portal 152. Following the flag 334 of FIG. 3A, the customerstarts to access the multiple access internet portal 133 services viathe voice portal, as shown in step 336. The voice portal determines ifthis is the caller's first access to the voice portal in step 338. If itis the caller's first access to the portal 158, the voice portalprovides the customer the opportunity to record his or her name forlater greeting, as shown in step 340, and proceeds to retrieve thecaller's MIN and profile from the MARA 158, as shown in step 3422. Ifthe customer has called the voice portal before, the voice portalproceeds with step 342. The multiple access internet portal 133 thendetermines whether the customer is a registered customer, as shown instep 344. If the customer is not a registered customer, the multipleaccess internet portal 133 provides access to the public informationavailable, as shown in step 346.

If the customer is a registered customer, the multiple access internetportal 133 prompts the user whether he or she would like access toapplications over the portal 158, as shown in step 348. If the customerrequests access to the applications over the portal 158, the portal 158prompts the customer for his or her password, as shown in step 350. TheMARA 138 then validates the customer to determine whether the passwordis valid, as shown in step 352. If the password is invalid, the portal158 sends an error message to the user in step 354 and returns to step350. If the password is correct, the voice portal retrieves e-mail/PIMinformation, in accordance with step 356, and provides the customer withaccess to the service as shown in step 358. If the customer does notwish to access applications over the portal 158, at step 348, themultiple access internet portal 133 provides the customer access topublic and personal internet information, as shown in step 360.

One skilled in the art should understand that the password and MIN couldbe provided by the user at the beginning of the call in order toauthenticate the user for all services for which he or she has beenprovisioned. Thus, a thief could not steal a wireless device and gainaccess to any of the personalized information contained therein. In theembodiment outlined above, however, a business decision was made toallow access to the internet information without authenticating theuser, since more sensitive information is included within theapplications as opposed to the internet.

Referring now to FIG. 4, shown is a flowchart of an e-mail delivery toan SMS phone. The e-mail application 162 can provide an e-mail accountto the user. The e-mail account will be accessible from his/hertelephone (both mobile and fixed landline) or through aninternet-connected computer 106. Providing an e-mail application 162through a telephone carrier that can be accessed from multiple platformscan be an inexpensive way for a customer to have an e-mail account,without requiring a computer or an ISP.

When an e-mail message is sent to an SMS enabled phone 110, the e-mailapplication 162 first receives the message, as shown in step 400.Delivery of an e-mail message to a customer on an SMS phone depends onthe options the user has set-up with the content provider, as shown instep 405. If the customer has not setup a web mailbox, a messagereceived by the system will be directed to the WIS 134, as shown in step410. The WIS 134 will then associate the message with a customer's MINand the customer's class of service as provisioned by the carrier uponregistration, as shown in step 415. If the customer is not provisionedto receive SMS e-mail, the message is undelivered, as shown in step 420.If the customer is provisioned, the WIS 134 will truncate the message iflonger than 150 characters as defined by an SMS standard and send themessage to the SMSC, as shown in step 425. The SMSC 126 will thenattempt to deliver the message to the recipient, as shown in step 430.The SMSC will determine if the phone is available, in step 435, anddeliver the message in step 440 if the phone is available. If the phoneis not available, the WIS 134 will allow the message to be retried untila pre-set timeout if the SMS phone 110 cannot be reached, as shown instep 445. If there is a timeout in attempting to deliver the message,the message will go undelivered, as shown in step 420.

If the customer has setup a web mailbox, the e-mail application 162 willreceive an e-mail message and check the options which the user has setupwith regard to the e-mail application 162, as shown in step 450. Theseoptions could indicate that certain messages be delivered while othersare stored at the content provider, that all messages are delivered, orthat all messages are stored. As shown in step 455 the messages will bestored if the options are such that they do not allow delivery to theSMS phone. The MARA 138 will update the customer profile to indicate thepresence of new mail. If the options allow the delivery of the messages,the e-mail application 162 will send the messages to the WIS 134 if theyare to be delivered upon receipt, as shown in step 460. The WIS 134 willthen associate the message with a MIN for the recipient and thecustomer's class of service as provisioned by the carrier uponregistration, as shown in step 465. If the customer's class of servicedoes not allow for delivery of the message, the message will remainundelivered, as shown in step 420. The WIS 134 will then forward themessage to the SMSC 126, truncating the message if it is longer than 150characters, as shown in step 470, and the SMSC will attempt to deliverthe message in step 475. The SMSC then determines whether the SMS phone110 is available in step 435. If the SMS phone 110 is available, themessage is delivered, as shown in step 440. If the SMS phone 110 isunavailable, the WIS 134 will allow the SMSC to continue attempting todeliver the message until a preset timeout if the SMS phone 110 is notavailable, as shown in step 445.

One skilled in the art should understand that an SMS phone could respondto e-mail by sending a text message back to the originating mobilenumber. Moreover, the WIS 134 and e-mail application 162 could be madeoperable to route a text message from a mobile phone to a standard(non-mobile) e-mail address. Thus, a customer could reply to a receivedmessage by sending a text message back to the WIS 134.

Referring now to FIG. 5, shown is a flowchart for receiving e-mailmessages via the voice portal. With regard to step 500, the e-mailapplication 162 waits to receive e-mail. Upon receiving e-mail, thee-mail application 162 updates the MARA 138 to indicate that new mail ispresent, as shown in step 505. In step 510, the system waits to receivea voice call from a customer associated with the e-mail address. When avoice call is received from the customer corresponding to the message,the customer is authenticated in step 515 by the WIS 134 and MARA 138.After the customer has connected to the voice portal 152, the customercan request access to his or her e-mail from the e-mail application 162.The voice portal 152 will then call the e-mail application 162 via theinternet in step 520 and download the customer's e-mail to the voiceportal, as shown in step 525. The voice portal 152 will then use text tolanguage (TTL) technology to play the message headers to the customer,as shown in step 530. The voice portal 152 then prompts the customer tochoose a message in step 535. If the customer chooses a message, thevoice portal plays the message to the customer using TTL, as shown instep 540, and then returns to step 530. If the customer does not chooseto listen to the message, the voice portal prompts the customer todetermine if he or she wishes to exit, as shown in step 545. If thecustomer wishes to exit, the voice portal 152 returns to thepersonalized front-page menu for the customer, as shown in step 550.However, if the customer does not wish to exit, the message headers canbe played again in accordance with step 530.

One skilled in the art should recognize that after sending the customera chosen message in step 540, there could be included another step whichprompts the customer with several actions that could be performed inresponse to the message. A few examples, among others, of these actionscould include saving the message, deleting the message, or replying tothe message. Upon receiving a response to the prompt, the voice portalcould perform the action specified by the customer. If the customerwishes to reply to the message, the voice portal could be configured toprompt the user to record a reply. The reply could then either beconverted to text, or could be sent as an audio attachment to themessage.

It should be recognized by one skilled in the art that receiving e-mailvia a web browser can be provided in a similar manner to current webbased e-mail programs. Moreover, WAP browsers can be provided in asimilar manner to current WAP e-mail programs. Specifically, the GEN3will receive a request from the customer for e-mail, and retrieve thee-mail from the e-mail application 162. The GEN3 can then generate anHTML or WML version of an e-mail page to send to the customer.

Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a flowchart illustrating the sequenceof an SMS phone 110 receiving PIM 164 information. The PIM 164 issimilar to a personal digital assistant (PDA). The PIM 164 can keep acalendar for the customer notifying him or her of appointments,meetings, deadlines, etc. The PIM 164 can also keep an address book forcontacts the customer wishes to store. As one skilled in the art shouldrecognize, other functions can be added to the PIM 164 without alteringthe scope of the present invention. Moreover, the location of the PIM164 on a central server allows the customer to access his or hercalendar from any of the platforms supported by the carrier.

As the first step 600, the customer configures the calendar informationinside the web interface for the PIM 164. Once scheduled appointmentsare due, as shown in step 605, the PIM 164 will send an alert to theMARA 138, in step 610, which will, in turn, be passed to the WIS 134, instep 615. The WIS 134 will then inform the MIN of the alert, as shown instep 620. The WIS 134 will then check a class of service associated withthe MIN as shown in step 625. If the class of service does not allowautomatic deliver of messages, the message will remain undelivered asshown in step 630. If the class of service allows delivery of themessage, the WIS 134 will send the message to the SMSC 126, as shown instep 635. The SMSC 126 will determine whether the SMS phone 110 isavailable in step 640. If the SMS phone 110 is not available, the WISwill allow delivery to be attempted until a preset timeout, as shown instep 645. After the timeout period expires, the message will remainundelivered. If the phone 110 is available the message will bedelivered, as shown in step 650.

Referring now to FIG. 7, shown is a flowchart illustrating the deliveryof PIM 164 information via a voice call. In the first step 700, thecustomer configures his or her calendar via a webpage interface for thePIM application 164. The system then waits for a voice call from thecustomer, as shown in step 705. In step 710, the system interacts withthe customer via the personalized front-page associated with the user.This front-page could include a prompt from the MARA indicating that anappointment time is due. The user is then able to select whether toaccess the PIM 164, as shown in step 715. The voice portal 152 calls thePIM 164, as shown in step 720, and retrieves PIM 164 informationassociated with the customer, as shown in step 725. The voice portal 152then sends the header information to the customer using TTL, as shown instep 730. The customer is then prompted to choose which message tolisten to, as shown in step 735. In step 740, if the customer makes achoice, the chosen message is played to the customer using TTL. Thevoice portal then plays the message headers again, in accordance withstep 730. If the customer does not make a choice, the voice portal 152prompts the customer to determine if he or she wishes to exit the PIM,as shown in step 745. If the customer wishes to exit, the voice portalreturns the customer to the personalized front-page, as shown in step750. One skilled in the art should recognize that the system could bemodified to notify the user when an event comes due by sending an alertto the WIS 134 and having the voice portal call the customer and play areminder. Furthermore, the information entered to the calendar need notbe entered through the web display, but could be entered over the phonevia an IVR menu system. Thus, reminders can also be recorded as .wav (orother suitable audio file format) and replayed to the user without usingTTL technology.

One skilled in the art should understand that receiving PIM 164information via a web browser can be provided in a similar manner tocurrent web based PIM applications. Moreover, WAP browsers can beprovided in a similar manner to current WAP based PIM applications.Specifically, the GEN3 142 could receive a request from the customer forPIM information, and retrieve the calendar from the PIM application 164.The GEN3 142 can then generate an HTML or WML version of a calendar pageto send to the customer.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the instant messaging application 166typically allows users to send messages back and forth to one another in“real-time.” Instant messaging applications 166 allow a user tocommunicate with another user who does not have a mechanism to transmitvoice, or a user who merely does not wish to talk. Instant messagingapplications 166 are somewhat similar to the text-messaging present inphones today. However, there is presently no system that allows instantmessaging to communicate with phone users as well as computer users.Moreover, the centralized instant messaging application 166 could allowcustomers using different instant messaging clients to communicateregardless of the incompatibilities across different clients. Thecustomer would typically initiate the instant messaging application 166.However, in some embodiments, among others, the user can choose to benotified via the instant messenger when they receive new e-mail, forwardinstant messages to their cell phone or page, and specify the type ofcontent to be displayed.

With respect to the chat application 168, the chat application 168 ismuch like internet chat and instant messaging applications presentlyexisting. It allows multiple users to connect in a chat room to discusswhatever topic they would like to discuss. One skilled in the art shouldunderstand that typically the customer would initiate use of thisapplication 168 during an internet session.

With regard to the commerce application 170, the commerce application170 will allow a customer to make purchases and payments over theinternet. This application 170 can allow the user to save purchasinginformation and addressing online. This application 170 can reduce thenecessity to enter the same information every time a buy is made on thecustomer's behalf. Moreover, this application 170 could interface withthe pre-paid or post-paid billing platforms 116, 114 and charge thecustomer's account upon a purchase or payment.

With respect to the location application 172, the location application172 can provide useful information to the customer based on thecustomer's location. The location is determined by the locationdetermination system 124 discussed previously. Some such usefulinformation in localized form might include weather, restaurants,nightlife, maps, gas stations, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 8, shown is an illustration of a sample screenshot of an embodiment, among others, of the web interface 800 of thepresent invention. The web interface shown is the portion of the webinterface 800 that the general public is typically allowed to access. Ifthe user wishes to access personalized information, he or she can entera user identification into the user id field 802 and his or her passwordinto the password field 804. All of the public information shown on thepublic web interface 800 will be accessible to every user who has signedon to the system, as well as personalized information.

If the user has forgotten his or her password, a link 806 is providedthrough which the user can retrieve his or her password. Typically, thislink would lead to a page at which the user is prompted to answer asecret question. In order for the MARA 138 to retrieve the password, theuser's answer to the question must match the answer stored in thedatabase 140. Upon entering the correct answer to the question, the usercan be provided with his or her password through the web interface, orvia e-mail, phone, etc.

One skilled in the art should recognize that the content provider couldprovide for both registered users and casual users. A registered userwould be a user who is provisioned to use at least one of the wirelessdevices to access his or her personalized information. A casual userwould be a user who merely enjoys the web interface provided by thecontent provider, and personalizes the web interface, but is notprovisioned to access the personalized information via a wirelessdevice.

The public web interface 800 can typically provide a search engine wherethe user can enter a string of alpha-numeric characters into the searchfield 808, and select the start search representation 810 using a mouse(or other selection tool) to search the internet for the string.Alternative embodiments, among others, of the search engine couldprovide a search of a specific area of the internet or the portalitself.

The public web interface 800 typically also provides a help screen. Thehelp screen can be accessed by the user through selecting the helprepresentation 812. The help screen can be used by the user to access afrequently asked questions (FAQ) page, can access a plethora of topicsupon which help is available, or could provide contact information for acustomer service representative to assist in solving the user's problem.

The public web interface 800 can typically also provide a link 814 to asite map of the content provider. The site map can assist users innavigating the website. This feature is especially convenient when theuser wishes to access a specific feature, and has forgotten the locationof the feature, and for new users to explore the available features ofthe content provider.

The public web interface 800 can also offer further information aboutthe multiple access internet portal 133, such as helping users registerwith the service through the activate services button representation816. Rate plans for the plan can be accessed by selecting the rate planbutton representation 818. The user can also choose to buy pre-paid webcard by selecting the buy pre-paid web card button representation 820.Each of these linked web pages will provide more information about theservice to public and casual users of the website, as well as registeredusers.

Another service provided by the public web interface 800 could include ashopping page linked by a shopping button representation 822. Theshopping page would allow users to consummate online transactions withvarious third party vendors or with the content provider or carrier.Online shopping has become an increasingly popular way to increaserevenue for business while decreasing capital expenditures required tooperate a so-called brick-and-mortar storefront. Moreover, onlineshopping provides greater convenience for buyers who do not wish totravel to a storefront, or who wish to shop at hours during which astorefront would normally be closed for business.

The public web interface 800 could further provide a user with access toonline services through an online services button representation 824.Some of these online services can include, among many others, viewingaccount balances, summarized call detail records, billing statements,pay bills online, advise clients on the proper calling plan, etc. Theseonline services would facilitate customer interaction with the carrier,providing more flexible options to the user in interacting with thecarrier.

The public web interface 800 would also provide a genericnon-personalized news section accessible to all users. On a personalizedpage, this news section would be organized and customized to the user'sspecification. Typically, the non-personalized news section couldprovide the latest headlines section 826, sports news section 828, andinternational news 830 section to the user. Under the latest headlinessection 826, the public web interface 800 could provide a first headline832 associated with a first news story. The public web interface 800could also provide a summary 834 associated with the first news story.Similarly, the public web interface 800 could provide a second headline836 and summary 838 associated with a second news story. One skilled inthe art should recognize that there could be any number of headlinestories shown on the public web interface 800, and that alternatively,the user could select the latest headline to receive the headlines andsummaries of the latest news stories. Furthermore, the headlines couldinclude pictures next to the headlines in some embodiments, amongothers, of the public web interface 800.

With regard to the sports news section 828 and the international newssection 830, the public web interface could be configured to merely showthe headlines 840, 842 associated with the respective section newsstories. One skilled in the art should understand that these sectionscould also include summaries and/or pictures associated with therespective headlines. Moreover, the sections 828, 830 could merely linkto a sports news or international new page, respectively. Further, oneskilled in the art should recognize that all of these categories couldbe user configurable on a personalized front-page. For example, amongothers, sports news sections 828 and international news sections 830could be replaced or supplemented by a plethora of other categories ofnews, and each of these is intended to be within the scope of the publicweb interface 800.

Near the login fields 802, 804, the public web interface 800 couldfurther contain links to help the user with the login process. Aregistration link representation 844 could be provided which would guidethe user to a registration page upon the user selecting the registrationlink representation 844. At the registration page the user could beprompted to enter personal information such as name, home number,cellular number, address, devices to be included on the service, etc.Another useful link to locate next to the login fields 802, 804 would bea newly provisioned user link representation 846. This linkrepresentation 846 when selected would take a user that has beenprovisioned to the service, but is a first time visitor, to a page wherethe user could enter information regarding which devices the user wishesto include on the service, along with providing a password, andpersonalizing the content for the user.

Another application, which could be included in some embodiments, amongothers, of the public web interface 800, could include a short messageservice application. The application could include a send messagerepresentation 848. The send message representation 848 would include afield representation 850 for the user to enter the number of thereceiving wireless device. The send message representation 848 wouldalso include a composition field representation 852, which would allowthe user to compose the message to a recipient. Further, the sendmessage representation 848 could include a field representation for thesender's name 854, and contact number 856. Upon completing these fields,the user could select to send the message using the send buttonrepresentation 858. At any time during the composition process that theuser decides not to send the message, the user can select a clear buttonrepresentation 860, which will cause the short message serviceapplication to clear all of the fields 850, 852, 854, 856 associatedwith the short message service application.

Further service that could be included on the public web interface 800include a weather representation 862 and a horoscope representation 864.The weather representation 862 could provide a link to a page where theuser could enter a city or postal code to determine the local weather inthat city or postal code. One skilled in the art might also recognizethat the location of the user might be roughly determined according tothe internet protocol (IP) address from which the user is accessing thewebsite, or the location of the last relay node before hitting the user.Alternatively, the content provider could choose a large city, or anumber of large cities, or the capital of its home country to display bydefault. With regard to the horoscope representation 864, the horoscoperepresentation could provide a user with the horoscope corresponding tothe current date. Moreover, the horoscope representation could provide alink to more detailed horoscope information, and allow the user to enterhis or her birth date, and get a personalized horoscope based upon theuser's birth date. One skilled in the art should recognize that thereare numerous other generalized representations that could be displayedon the front page of a public web interface 800, such as, but notlimited to, movie releases, stock quotes, travel information, etc.

Another set of links that could be provided on the public web interface800, include short-cuts to personalized web applications that can beaccessed by registered users. Such short-cuts could include a homepagerepresentation 866 which, when selected by the user, will take a user tohis or her personalized front-page after receiving a user identificationand password from the user. Another such short-cut could include aninstant messaging representation 868 which, when selected by a user,would launch an instant messaging session after receiving a useridentification and password from the user. The short-cuts could alsoinclude an e-mail representation 870 which, when selected by a user,could either launch an e-mail application on the user's machine or takethe user to the user's web mailbox after receiving a user identificationand password from the user. A PIM representation 872 could also beincluded in the short-cuts available to registered users. Upon selectionof the PIM representation 872 the user could retrieve his or her addressbook, calendar, and other personal information upon providing a useridentification and password. Another application that could be includedin the short-cuts available to registered users is the chat applicationrepresentation 874. Upon selecting the chat application representation874, the user will be taken to a chat website facilitated by a chatapplication on the content provider after providing a useridentification and password.

The public web interface 800 could also include an advertising spacerepresentation 876 for the content provider, carrier, or third partyvendor. The advertising space representation 876 could be linked to awebsite corresponding to the person sponsoring the ad contained withinthe advertising space representation 876. Upon selecting the advertisingspace representation 876 so linked, the user would be taken to thewebsite corresponding with the advertiser. Advertising revenue forcontent providers has typically been instrumental in the contentprovider's ability to provide a plethora of services to users. However,using the revenue sharing structure outlined above, the advertisingrevenue from the advertising space can also be split between the contentprovider and the wireless carrier. One skilled in the art shouldrecognize that a number of sets of advertising space representationscould be included on the public web interface 800, and that theinclusion of a single space is not meant to limit the interface 800 tohaving one advertising space representation 876.

Referring now to FIG. 9, shown is an illustration of a customized screenin an embodiment, among others, of the present invention. After loggingonto the system, the user receives a customized screen 900. The screencan include, among others, a welcome message to the user 905, whichcould include the number of new messages contained stored in the user'sinbox. The customized screen 900 could also include a summary of thedevices 910 which the user has enabled to access information via themultiple access internet portal 133. In this example, the devicesinclude a WAP enabled phone 915 and an SMS enabled phone 920. Thecustomized screen 900 would typically also include a personalized newssection 925, which provides a plurality of headlines 930, 935, 940. Eachof the headlines 930, 935, 940 would typically have a short summary 945,950, 955, following the respective headline.

The customized screen would further include a “My Preferences”representation 960, which could be selected by the user to view theuser's preferences. In this section the user could rearrange portions ofthe customized screen 900, select new content to be displayed in the MyNews representation 925, and otherwise customize the user's experiencewith the multiple access internet portal 133 across a variety ofplatforms. The user could also select the exit representation 965 inorder to log off of the multiple access internet portal 133.

Returning to the “My Devices” section representation 910, each devicecan be selected to edit using the respective edit option representation970, 975. At these edit screens the user can customize the optionsavailable to the respective wireless devices from the multiple accessinternet portal 133. Furthermore, with respect to SMS devices, the usercan specify what types of updates he or she wishes to receive at the SMSdevice, and how often he or she wishes to receive updates. The user candelete the devices listed in the “My Devices” section representation 910by selecting the respective delete representation 980, 985. The user canadd another device by selecting the “Add New Device” link representation990. Upon selecting the “Add New Device” link representation 990, theuser will be taken to a setup screen which will allow the user tospecify a name for the device, a type for the device, and an e-mailaddress (or other attributes) associated with the device.

Referring now to FIG. 10A, shown is an illustration of a sample screenshot from a WAP enabled wireless device 1000 using the system of FIG. 2.An initial screen could allow the user to choose to access personalizedinformation by entering selecting a “My BellSouth” representation 1002.Alternatively, the user could select to view public news, or send SMSmessages with the “News” representation 1004 and “Send SMS”representation 1006, respectively. The user can move the selection arrowrepresentation 1008 over the option he or she wishes to select by usingthe scroll key 1010. Upon arriving at the option that the user wishes tochoose, he or she can use the selection key 1012 to use the selectrepresentation 1014 to select the option highlighted by the arrowrepresentation. Alternatively, the user could use selection key 1016 toselect the exit representation 1018 to exit the system.

Referring now to FIG. 10B, shown is a screen shot of the wireless device1000 after selecting the “My BellSouth” option representation 1002 (FIG.10A). Here the user can be required to enter a user id into the user idfield 120. The user id is typically the user's mobile number and isentered in field 122. Alternatively, the system can detect the mobilenumber and pre-populate the user id field 120. The user is also promptedby the system to enter a password into the password field 124. The usermay then enter his or her password 126 in order for the system toauthenticate the request. Upon finishing, the user can select the “OK”representation 128 using the selection button 1012. Alternatively, theuser can select the exit representation 1030 using the selection button1016.

Referring now to FIG. 10C, shown is a screen shot of the wireless device1000 after the user has been authenticated. The user can now select a“Personalized News” option representation 1032 or “Send SMS” optionrepresentation 1034. Again, to select an option the user moves the arrowrepresentation 1036 over the desired option with the scroll key 1010,and uses the select representation 1038 by pressing the select key 1012.The user could also exit the system using the exit representation 1040by pressing the selection key 1016. One skilled in the art shouldrecognize that the user may be allowed to see more options by scrollingto a second page (not shown). Moreover, the personalized informationretrievable from the wireless device would be substantially similar tothe information retrievable via the world wide web.

Referring now to FIG. 10D, shown is a screen shot of the wireless device1000 after the user has selected to view the “Personalized News” optionrepresentation 1032 (FIG. 10C). The user now has the option to chooseamong an “Economy” option representation 1042, an “Entertainment” optionrepresentation 1044, and a “Sports” option representation 1046. Againthe user has the option of using the arrow representation 1048 incombination with the scroll key 1010 and selection key 1012 to select toview a particular option using the select representation 1050.Alternatively, the user can press a number on the mobile device keypad1052 to select any of the options. The user can also choose to exit thesystem by selecting the exit representation 1054 with the selection key1016.

One skilled in the art should recognize that there are an infinitenumber of alternative ways in which to display and order theinformation. In one such alternative, among others, the initial screencould require a password to access the system. Moreover, one skilled inthe art should recognize that the particular screens shown vary widelybetween devices in terms of capability to display information andgraphics.

One skilled in the art should recognize that any of the options shown inFIG. 9A could be included in the personalized screens of the wirelessdevice 1000, including: latest headlines, sports, international news,weather and horoscope. Moreover, the personalized screens of thewireless device 1000 could include e-mail, calendar, or other securedapplications.

Referring now to FIGS. 11A-11J, shown is a more detailed voice callflowchart of the system of FIG. 2. With respect to FIG. 11A, the voiceportal welcomes the user in step 1100. In step 1101, the voice portaldetermines if the call is from a customer that has not used the voiceportal before. This can typically be determined by detecting the phonenumber of the calling wireless device, or by prompting the user to tellthe voice portal if it is his or her first time using the voice portal.If it is the user's first time using the voice portal, the user is sentto a first call process 1102.

Referring now to FIG. 11B, shown is the first call process for a newuser. In step 1103, the user is prompted to say his or her name. Thevoice portal records the user's name in step 1104, and plays the user'sname back in step 1105. The voice portal then prompts the user toconfirm the recording in step 1106. If the user does not confirm therecording, the voice portal returns to step 1103 to re-record. If theuser confirms the recording, the voice portal prompts the user in step1107 to determine whether he or she would like to personalize theservices of the voice portal. If the user does not wish to personalizethe services, the user will return to the regular call process 1108. Ifthe user wishes to personalize his or her service, the voice portalallows the user to personalize the service in step 1109. Specifically,the personalization step 1109 could prompt the user to decide what typesof services and information he or she would like to be available to thedevice. After personalization, the voice portal prompts the user toconfirm the personalization in step 1110. If the personalization is notconfirmed, the user returns to step 1109 to personalize the service.However, if the personalization is confirmed, the user will return tothe regular call process 1108.

Returning to FIG. 11A, the voice portal alerts the user to a pluralityof universal commands. These commands include help, main menu, cancel,exit, and location. One skilled in the art should recognize that theuser can select these universal commands at any time during the call,and the voice portal will interrupt the current process and send theuser to the selected universal command. In step 1112, the voice portalprompts the user to choose any of a number of subjects. Typically, thesesubjects can include, among many others: news, sports, weather, jokes,horoscope, entertainment, e-mail, and calendar, among others. Moreover,these subjects are typically the same subjects available via the web,WAP, and SMS interfaces. Furthermore, it should be recognized by one ofskill in the art that the user could configure the process at the webinterface to limit the subjects/applications available to the userthrough the voice.

In step 1113, the voice portal determines if the user has selected tohear news. If the user has selected to hear news, the voice portal sendsthe user to the news page 1114. Referring now to FIG. 11C, the voiceportal can prompt the user to choose local, international, political,technological, or business news in step 1115. The voice portal thendetermines if the user has chose local news in step 1116. If the userhas chosen local news, the voice portal retrieves the local news andplays it back to the user in step 1117. The voice portal then promptsthe user whether or not he or she would like to return to the main menuin step 1118. If the user wishes to return to the main menu, the voiceportal returns to the regular call process 1108. If the user wishes toremain in the news section 1114, the voice portal returns to step 1115.

If the user did not choose local news in step 1116, the voice portaldetermines whether the user chose international news in step 1120. Ifthe user chose international news, the voice portal retrievesinternational news in step 1117 and plays it back to the user. Afterplaying the international news to the user, the voice portal prompts theuser if he or she would like to return to the main menu in step 1118.The voice portal returns to the regular call process 1108 in step 1119,if the user chooses to return to the main menu. Otherwise, the voiceportal prompts the user to choose a type of news in step 1115.

If the user did not choose international news in step 1120, the voiceportal determines whether the user chose political news in step 1121. Ifthe user chose political news, the voice portal retrieves political newsin step 1117 and plays it back to the user. After playing the politicalnews to the user, the voice portal prompts the user if he or she wouldlike to return to the main menu in step 1118. The voice portal returnsto the regular call process 1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses toreturn to the main menu. Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user tochoose a type of news in step 1115.

If the user did not choose political news in step 1121, the voice portaldetermines whether the user chose technological news in step 1122. Ifthe user chose technological news, the voice portal retrievestechnological news in step 1117 and plays it back to the user. Afterplaying the technological news to the user, the voice portal prompts theuser if he or she would like to return to the main menu in step 1118.The voice portal returns to the regular call process 1108 in step 1119,if the user chooses to return to the main menu. Otherwise, the voiceportal prompts the user to choose a type of news in step 1115.

If the user did not choose technological news in step 1122, the voiceportal determines whether the user chose extra news in step 1123. If theuser chose extra news, the voice portal determines whether there is anyextra news available in step 1124, and plays it back to the user in step1117 if there is extra news available. If there is no extra newsavailable, the voice portal alerts the user in step 1125. After eitherplaying the extra news to the user or alerting the user that there is noextra news, the voice portal prompts the user if he or she would like toreturn to the main menu in step 1118. The voice portal returns to theregular call process 1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses to return tothe main menu. Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user to choose atype of news in step 1115.

If the user did not choose extra news in step 1123, the voice portaldetermines whether the user chose business news in step 1126. If theuser chose business news, the voice portal retrieves business news instep 1127 and plays it back to the user. After playing the business newsto the user, the voice portal prompts the user if he or she would liketo return to the main menu in step 1118. The voice portal returns to theregular call process 1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses to return tothe main menu. Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user to choose atype of news in step 1115. One skilled in the art should recognize thatfurther functionality could be added to business news, such that theuser could retrieve specialized stock quotes, economic news, and companyspecific news, among others.

Referring again to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select news, the voiceportal determines if the user selected sports in step 1128. If the userselected sports, the voice portal retrieves the sports page 1129.Referring now to FIG. 11D, the voice portal prompts the user to choose acategory of sports news in step 1130. The categories can include, amongmany others: soccer, racing, tennis, headlines, and special events,among others. The voice portal then determines if the user has selectedsoccer in step 1131. If the user selected soccer, the voice portalretrieves soccer news and plays the news to the user in step 1132. Ifthe user selected racing, in accordance with step 1133, the voice portalretrieves racing news and replays it to the user in step 1132. If theuser selected tennis, in accordance with step 1134, the voice portalretrieves tennis news and replays it to the user in step 1132. If theuser selected headlines, in accordance with step 1135, the voice portalretrieves headlines and replays them to the user in step 1132. If theuser selected special events, in accordance with step 1136, the voiceportal retrieves special event news and replays it to the user in step1132. After playing news to the user in step 1132, or sensing that theuser has not made a selection in step 1130, the voice portal prompts theuser to choose whether or not to return to the main menu in step 1137.If the user wishes to return to the main menu, the voice portal willreturn to the regular call process 1138. If the user wishes to stay inthe sports news section, the voice portal returns to step 1130, andprompts the user to select a type of sports news.

Returning to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select sports, the voiceportal determines if the user selected weather in step 1139. If the userselected weather, the voice portal retrieves the weather page 1140.Referring now to FIG. 11E, the voice portal prompts the user to chooselocal or international weather, as shown in step 1141. If the userchooses local weather, in step 1142, the voice portal prompts the userto provide a city name. There are several ways that the user could inputthe city. A speech recognition system could be used to match the citynamed to a plethora of existing cities. Alternatively, the user could beprovided a list of cities from which to choose, or could enter the cityby typing it into the phone using the letters associated with each ofthe numbers. The voice portal could then retrieve a weather reportcorresponding to the selected city and play the report to the user instep 1144. If the user chose international weather in step 1145, theuser would be prompted to select a city in step 1146. This could be doneby any of the methods outlined above, or by using another method. Thevoice portal would then retrieve the weather corresponding to theselected city and play the weather to the user. One skilled in the artshould recognize that in some embodiments, among others, the carriercould use the location determination system 214 to locate the user andprovide local weather without prompting the user to select a city forweather.

Returning to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select weather, the voiceportal determines if the user selected jokes in step 1148. If the userselected jokes, the voice portal retrieves the jokes page 1149.Referring now to FIG. 11F, in step 1150, the voice portal alerts theuser that he or she may say “more” at any time to hear more jokes. Instep 1151, the voice portal retrieves a random joke from a joke databaseprovided by the content provider. In step 1152, the voice portal promptsthe user to determine whether another joke should be played. If so, thevoice portal returns to step 1151. If not, the voice portal returns tothe regular call process 1108 in step 1153.

Referring again to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select jokes, the voiceportal determines if the user selected horoscope in step 1154. If theuser selected horoscope, the voice portal retrieves the horoscope page1140. Referring now to FIG. 11G, in step 1156 the voice portaldetermines whether the user has set a personalized horoscope sign. Ifthe user has personalized his or her horoscope sign, the voice portalretrieves the message of the day associated with the predetermined signand plays the message in step 1157. In step 1158, the voice portal exitsthe horoscope and returns to the main menu at the regular call process1108. If there is no predetermined sign, the voice portal prompts theuser for a sign in step 1159. If the sign is a zodiac sign, according tostep 1160, the voice portal retrieves the zodiac sign and replays themessage of the day for the selected zodiac sign in step 1161. The voiceportal then returns to the main menu page according to step 1158. If thesign is from the Chinese calendar, in accordance with step 1162, thevoice portal retrieves the message of the day for the selected Chineseastrological sign in step 1163, and returns to the main menu in step1158.

Referring again to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select horoscope, thevoice portal determines if the user selected entertainment in step 1164.If the user selected entertainment, the voice portal retrieves theentertainment page 1165. Referring now to FIG. 11H, in step 1166 thevoice portal prompts the user to select the type of entertainmentinformation he or she would like to receive. The user can select frommultiple categories that can include, among many others: “What's goingon?”, cooking, lottery, and movies. If the user selects “What's goingon?”, the voice portal will prompt the user as to the type of activityabout which the user wishes to know. For example the user could beinterested in eating. If the user is interested in eating, as shown instep 1168, the voice portal retrieves suggestions and plays them for theuser in step 1169. If the user is interested in dancing, as shown instep 1170, the voice portal can retrieve a list of dance clubs and playthe list for the user in step 1171. One skilled in the art shouldrecognize that these are mere example of things that could be includedin the “What's going on?” category.

If the user selected cooking in step 1172, the voice portal could promptthe user to choose a style of cooking, such as, for example, Italian orFrench. If the user wishes to receive an Italian recipe, as shown instep 1173, the voice portal can retrieve an Italian recipe and play thesuggestion for the user in step 1174. However, if the user selects toreceive a French recipe, as shown in step 1175, the voice portal couldretrieve a French recipe and play the suggestion for the user in step1176. One skilled in the art should recognize that a plethora of stylesof cooking exist that could be provided for the user to choose.

If the user selected the lottery in step 1177, the voice portal couldprompt the user to choose which lottery results are desired. In thisexample, national and local lottery results are provided. If the userselects national results, as shown in step 1178, the voice portal willretrieve the national lottery results and play them back for the user instep 1179. On the other hand, if the user selects local results, asshown in step 1180, the voice portal retrieves the results and playsthem back for the user in step 1181.

If the user selected movies in step 1182, the voice portal would promptthe user to select a city in which the movie is playing in step 1183.The voice portal then prompts the user for the name of the movie thatthe user would like to see in step 1184. The voice portal would thenretrieve movie information and play the movie times and locations backto the user in step 1185. In step 1186, the voice portal could promptthe user to determine whether or not the user wishes to hear a synopsisof the movie. If the user wishes to hear a synopsis of the movie, instep 1187 the voice portal plays a movie synopsis or trailer. Afterplaying the synopsis, or being selected not to play the synopsis, instep 1188 the voice portal prompts the user to determine if the userwould like to return to the main menu. If the user wishes to return tothe main menu, in step 1189, the voice portal returns to the regularcall process 1108. Otherwise, the voice portal returns to step 1166, andprompts the user to choose a type of entertainment.

Referring again to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select entertainment,the voice portal determines if the user selected e-mail in step 1190. Ifthe user selected e-mail, the voice portal determines whether or not theuser is registered to retrieve e-mail in step 1191. If the user is notregistered, the voice portal alerts the user that registration isrequired in step 1192, and returns to step 1112. If the user isregistered, the voice portal retrieves the e-mail page 1193. Referringnow to FIG. 11I, the voice portal connects to a post office protocol(POP) server and retrieves new e-mail messages associated with theuser's account from the POP server in step 1194. In step 1195, the voiceportal determines whether new messages were received. If new messageswere received, the voice portal alerts the user as to the number of newmessages received in step 1196. In step 1197, the voice portal plays thenext message using TTL functionality.

The voice portal then prompts the user as to several options the userhas with respect to the current e-mail message. In step 1198, the voiceportal determines whether the user has decided to skip the currentmessage. If the user decides to skip the message, the voice portalreturns to step 1197 and plays the next message. In step 1199, the voiceportal determines whether the user has decided to delete the currentmessage. If the user decides to delete the current message, the voiceportal will delete the message in step 1200, and return to step 1097 toplay the next message. In step 1201, the voice portal determines whetheror not the user wishes to add the sender of the current message to hisor her directory. If the user wishes to add the sender to his or herdirectory, the voice portal will add the sender in step 1202, and returnto step 1097 to play the next message. In step 1203, the voice portaldetermines whether or not the user wishes to replay old messages. If theuser wishes to replay old messages, the voice portal will retrieve oldmessages in step 1204 and return to step 1097 to play the old messages.

In step 1205, the voice portal determines whether or not the user wishesto forward the current message to another user. If the user wishes toforward the current message to another user, the voice portal willprompt the user for the name of the forwarding address in step 1206. Thevoice portal will then prompt the user to record the e-mail message instep 1207. In step 1208, the voice portal confirms sending the messagewith the user. If the user wishes to rewrite the message, the voiceportal will return to step 1207. If the user confirms sending themessage, the voice portal sends the message to the e-mail server in step1209. The voice portal can then determine whether or not the user wishesto return to the main menu in step 1210. If the user wishes to return tothe main menu, in step 1211 the voice portal returns to the regular callprocess 1008. Otherwise, the voice portal returns to step 1097 to playanother message.

In step 1212, the voice portal determines whether or not the user wishesto reply to the current message. If the user wishes to reply to thecurrent message, the voice portal will prompt the user to record amessage in step 1207, confirm sending in step 1208, and send the messagein step 1209. If the voice portal determines that the user wishes tocompose a new message in step 1213, the voice portal will prompt theuser to identify the recipient in step 1214. The voice portal will thenallow the user to compose the message in step 1207, confirm sending instep 1208, and send in step 1209.

If there were no new messages retrieved in step 1095, the voice portalprompts the user to choose to compose a new message or read oldmessages. One skilled in the art should understand that each of thesefunctions operates similarly whether new messages were retrieved fromthe POP server or not.

Referring again to FIG. 10A, if the user did not select e-mail, thevoice portal determines if the user selected the calendar in step 1216.If the user selected the calendar, the voice portal determines whetheror not the user is registered to retrieve the calendar in step 1217. Ifthe user is not registered, the voice portal alerts the user thatregistration is required in step 1092, and returns to step 1012. If theuser is registered, the voice portal retrieves the calendar page 1218.

The voice portal, in step 1219, retrieves the calendar informationassociated with the user. The calendar then determines whether or notthe user has an appointment scheduled for the current day in step 1220.If the user has an appointment scheduled for the current day, the voiceportal alerts the user that he or she has <x> number of appointmentstoday in step 1221. The voice portal then plays the next appointmentlisted on the schedule in step 1222. The user can then decide to skip tothe next appointment listing in step 1223. If the user skips to the nextappointment listing, the voice portal returns to step 1222 and retrievesthe next appointment. If the user decides to delete the currentappointment, as shown in step 1224, the voice portal will delete theappointment in accordance with step 1225.

The voice portal determines in step 1226 whether or not the user wishesto retrieve all appointments from the calendar for the next week. If theuser wishes to retrieve all appointments for the next week, the voiceportal will retrieve the appointments in step 1227, and return to step1222 to play the next appointment. If the user wishes to retrieveappointments for a specific date, as shown in step 1228, the voiceportal will retrieve all appointments for that date in step 1229, andreturn to step 1222 to play the appointments.

If the user wishes to create an appointment, in step 1230, the voiceportal will prompt the user for a date, time and length of theappointment in step 1231. The voice portal will also prompt the user torecord a message associated with the appointment in step 1232. Uponrecording the date, time, length and message, the voice portal canconfirm the addition of the appointment to the calendar in step 1233. Ifthe user does not confirm the appointment, the voice portal returns tostep 1231 to create the appointment anew. Otherwise, the appointment iscreated and the voice portal prompts the user to determine whether ornot to return to the main menu in step 1234. If the user wishes toreturn to the main menu, in step 1235 the voice portal will return tothe regular call process 1008. Otherwise, the voice portal retrieves thenext appointment and plays the appointment to the user.

If there are no appointments found for the current day in step 1220, thevoice portal will prompt the user to decide if he or she would like tolisten to all appointments for the next week, check a specific date, orcreate a new appointment in step 1236. One skilled in the art shouldunderstand that these steps are the same regardless of whether anyappointments were found for the current day in step 1220.

One skilled in the art should understand that the voice portal contentreceived by the user could be customized through the web interface.Moreover, in alternative embodiments, among others, the user could beallowed to customize the content sent to the voice portal through apersonalization menu at the voice portal.

Process and function descriptions and blocks in flow charts can beunderstood as representing, in some embodiments, modules, segments, orportions of code which include one or more executable instructions forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process, andalternate implementations are included within the scope of the preferredembodiment of the present invention in which functions may be executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the artof the present invention. In addition, such functional elements can beimplemented as logic embodied in hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof, among others. In some embodiments involvingsoftware implementations, such software comprises an ordered listing ofexecutable instructions for implementing logical functions and can beembodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connectionwith an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context ofthis document, a computer-readable medium can be any means that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the software foruse by or in connection with the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Manyvariations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) of the invention without departing substantially from theprinciples of the invention. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andthe present invention and protected by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a processor; and amemory storing code that when executed causes the processor to performoperations, the operations comprising: receiving usage information froma server that downloads data to a client device; receiving from theserver an identifier of the client device receiving the data;associating a type of the data to a provider of the data; associatingthe usage information to the identifier of the client device; generatinga billing record for the usage information; and sharing revenueassociated with the billing record with the provider based on the typeof the data.
 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise determining the revenue.
 3. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the operations further comprise formatting the billingrecord.
 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise downloading the data to the client device.
 5. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprisetracking a time associated with the data downloaded to the clientdevice.
 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise tracking an amount of the data downloaded to the clientdevice.
 7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise tracking a time associated with the usage information.8. A method, comprising: receiving, by a processor, usage informationfrom a server that downloads data to a client device; receiving from theserver an identifier of the client device receiving the data;associating a type of the data to a provider of the data; associatingthe usage information to the identifier of the client device; generatinga billing record for the usage information; and sharing revenueassociated with the billing record with the provider based on the typeof the data.
 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprisingdetermining the revenue.
 10. The method according to claim 8, furthercomprising formatting the billing record.
 11. The method according toclaim 8, further comprising downloading the data to the client device.12. The method according to claim 8, further comprising tracking a timeassociated with the data downloaded to the client device.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 8, further comprising tracking an amount of the datadownloaded to the client device.
 14. The method according to claim 8,further comprising tracking a time associated with the usageinformation.
 15. A memory storing code that when executed causes aprocessor to perform operations, the operations comprising: receivingusage information from a server that downloads data to a client device;receiving from the server an identifier of the client device receivingthe data; associating a type of the data to a provider of the data;associating the usage information to the identifier of the clientdevice; generating a billing record for the usage information; andsharing revenue associated with the billing record with the providerbased on the type of the data.
 16. The memory according to claim 15,wherein the operations further comprise determining the revenue.
 17. Thememory according to claim 15, wherein the operations further comprisedownloading the data to the client device.
 18. The memory according toclaim 15, wherein the operations further comprise tracking a timeassociated with the data downloaded to the client device.
 19. The memoryaccording to claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise trackingan amount of the data downloaded to the client device.
 20. The memoryaccording to claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise trackinga time associated with the usage information.